Going on vacation - what to do with pool?

[g3lo]

Hi,

I do the BBB method to maintain my pool. I am going on vacation for 7 days and wanted to know how best to ensure my chlorine doesn’t go below target level. I was thinking of shocking the pool to 20-30 FC, however, I am not sure if that is enough to last 7 days.

Thank you!

 

[frogabog]

What is your CYA level?

How do you chlorinate normally?

What are your test results?

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

If you are at the lower end of CYA, you can use pucks in a floater for the time you'e away. A week should only add 5-10ppm CYA. Yay for pucks?

 

[PoolGate]

Do you know your daily chlorine usage? Mine uses @2-3 parts per day. I think with your feeder and bringing it to SLAM before leaving you should be fine for 7 days.

 

[setsailsoon]

If your CYA level is in the low end of the range you can just use floaters. I did this several times per year when we used liquid chlorine. Worked great. I preferred floating dispensers over the in-line chlorinator since they worked even if you had a power failure. Do the calcs on pool math to estimate the amount of tablets needed and how high your CYA will increase.

 

[ship of fools]

If you have a solar cover you should be okay going to slam level and leaving it covered. You will probably want to bump it back up close to slam level when you return and keep it a bit higher than normal for a day or two. I'm in a similar climate and i've done it before with no issues.

 

[setsailsoon]

Raising to SLAM level with liquid plus the floater as @PoolGate mentioned works great too. I estimated FC demand at 3 ppm and when I got back FC was always on the high side. Longest I did this was 12 days. A week should be easy.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Can you cover the pool? Bringing it up to SLAM process level and covering it will keep it just fine for a week.

Maddie

 

[g3lo]

Hi,

Thanks for the responses. A bit more info:

- I go from 6 FC to 4 FC daily. So I put about 1.6L LC daily. I hold it at 6 FC.

- CYA is around 50

- Alk - 50
- PH 7.6

I was thinking pucks as well, but worried about the CYA increasing. Than again we are near the end of the season. You think 1 puck in the skimmer would work?

 

[Katodude]

Not a big fan of pucks in the skimmer. Just buy a floater, they are pretty cheap and you can put a few in there.

 

[PoolGate]

Hi,

Thanks for the responses. A bit more info:

- I go from 6 FC to 4 FC daily. So I put about 1.6L LC daily. I hold it at 6 FC.

- CYA is around 50

- Alk - 50
- PH 7.6

I was thinking pucks as well, but worried about the CYA increasing. Than again we are near the end of the season. You think 1 puck in the skimmer would work?

Sounds like just bumping the chlorine level to 20 and adding couple extra pucks would be fine. Do you have someone checking on your skimmers?

 

[g3lo]

So no one will be home for 7 days. I don’t think stores are open at the moment and I fly out tmrw early morning. Can I put 1 puck in skimmer? Or is that a bad idea?

 

[mknauss]

If you must put pucks in the skimmer, leave your VS pump on a low rpm 24/7.

For a week, I would suggest using 3 pucks. Might want to add baking soda to get your TA up to 70 ppm before using pucks. They are very acidic.

 

[g3lo]

Thank you. And just straight pucks? Or in a sock? And what’s low rpm? 2000?

 

[mknauss]

Straight pucks.

I would use 1200 rpm. Does that skim the surface?

 

[g3lo]

Ok. What you mean by skim the surface?

 

[PoolGate]

Ok. What you mean by skim the surface?

Your pool has a skimmer or 2 it is usually a square hole in the top water edge of the pool. It continuously overflows the pool removing floating debris. You want to run your pump at a speed where the skimming effect is adequate.